2009 Atlantic Jazz Festival Synopsis

Dustin — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 02:47:03 +0000

As a member of the Board of Directors for JazzEast, I’m presented each year with an all-access pass to the Atlantic Jazz Festival in Halifax each summer. This year I emceed at a handful of concerts and I also worked out that pass as hard as I could, viewing part or all of at least one or more performances each day.

This year’s festival ran from July 10-18th, straddling two legendary concerts for Halifax in the form of Paul McCartney on July 11th and KISS on July 18th. But our festival, the first programmed by our new Artistic Director Lulu Healy, was hot enough that I barely noticed those two other shows during the week. Lulu’s inaugural programme was absolutely fantastic this year.

Here are the performances I attended at least in part this year. Where noted, links open a short review for that given show.

Fri July 10th — Kenny Garrett at the Main Stage Tent (review)
Sat July 11th — Asia and NuGruv at the Main Stage Tent
Sun July 12th — Deep River Boys + Félix Stüssi 5 featuring Ray Anderson
Mon July 13th — John Abercrombie Trio
Tue July 14th — Two by Two + Greg Amirault
Wed July 15th — Oliver Jones
Thu July 16th — Dinuk Wijeratne with Sanctuary + The Bad Plus
Fri July 17th — Bell Orchestre + Joel Miller + Shuffle Demons + Kid Koala
Sat July 18th — CMW + Fred Hersch Trio + Harvey Millar

Other notable performances I didn’t get to see at this year’s festival include, but are not limited to, the following:

– Jane Bunnett
– Gord Grdina
– Coco Love Alcorn
– Luis Mario Ochoa and Hilario Duran
– Mike Murley and Guido Basso with singer Yvette Tollar
– Carlos del Junco with Sisters Euclid
– Haggai Cohen Milo Trio
– Jayme Stone and Mansa Sissoko
– Simon Fisk Trio
– Brandi Disterheft

As you can see, this year’s festival was an embarrassment of musical riches. I’m terribly proud to have played a small role in presenting it and I look forward to next year’s events!

Kenny Garrett at the Main Stage Tent(Fri July 10th, 2009, Halifax)

Dustin — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 02:43:27 +0000

Kenny Garrett, the 49 year-old Detroit-native, Miles Davis alum and alto sax legend, blew the roof off the tent during the festival’s opening night. His quartet, made up of electric bass, drums, keyboards (Hammond B3 + synths) and alto sax, rocked the house with a whole night of simple, solid, bluesy tunes. The rhythm section was unbelievably tight, his own playing was biting, hard, and swinging, and each musician laid down incredibly solid grooves all night.

His closing number featured a vamp which he continued for more than 45 minutes; according to the bassist whom I interviewed after the show, Kenny just kept bringing back the vamp until the crowd at the front of the stage finally stopped dancing and cheering. Kenny was delighted with the audience’s dedication and participation in his music that night, and he didn’t stop playing until the crowd had been completely exhausted. A tremendous opening night for the festival.

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Dustin LindenSmith » atlantic jazz festival 2009

2009 Atlantic Jazz Festival Synopsis

Kenny Garrett at the Main Stage Tent(Fri July 10th, 2009, Halifax)